what had been taught, recited, memorized

because a child knows no better

then trips on what had been learned

when stumbles come about, a cut, a slap,

regret but the teachers have gone

on their own way, seeing their fantasies fulfilled

thus now the teen finds the veil tearing,

a darkness slipping in, light that was never light

becomes a whisper, nothing solid

is hatched – cuts, hurts, laments

from failed trials, hopes dashes from nuances

never a black and white, the adult is forged

with teen fading away with habits becoming hardened

to sway as to tunes, lift about in the wind, scattered

thoughts sinking finally with tombstones unblinking.

bleeds, pain, sickness of a soul screaming,

flesh dulled from too much of the same, unchanging

patterns no longer find rest, languid body collapses

from exhaustion even as the wind rises to a storm

then it too sinks into ravines, hushes up

with the adult yearning to become child again,

fades and reaches forth, dancing swirling colors

lifting actions and thoughts, passion igniting

for solidness is formed, scattered thoughts form

and become something more.

drop, drop, drop

into the well of forgetting

habits that no longer serve.

then the child beamed, cried out,

spread wings and flew as the wind

changing forms, lifting sand and rock

up, up, up

till the clouds themselves no longer tried

to stand in the way,

of lofty dreams they cannot hold.

the present, the middle ground, the solid earth

on the back of one relearned, rebalanced, rehashed

with an audience staring blankly

unable to fathom why

the player no longer goes along with the script.

a script meant to control, meant to delight, to entertain

but never to uplift, to enrich, to grow

even as roots decayed, as leaves turned yellow,

till finally the eyes formed, the ears became, senses felt.

then the script became hollowed out, the dead audience

only heard the stomp, cry, unruly rebellion

of a play no longer theirs.